Four-way valve



Ot. 2, 1951 J. D. 'BUCHANAN FOUR WAY VALVE Filed Marchs, 1946 Patented Oct. 2, 19751 STATES Whenfamhighipressuref-fof `that .order-is employed: 10.51

withra: certairntyperof four way valve havingf'at: camrshaft; for operatingff the evalve due: to the.;u high pressure?. leakage; az'ilarge fierce-iis; required; to ;turn"the` cam-shaft Anobject" of; thee present zinvention'zzis; to re- 15P duce fthefforce requiredftc operatertheroam-shaft4` Wherebyj it may bei operated; WithaaxloW-iforce:

when employing 4high pressure -fluidtsupply:

Another feature of theainvention; relates aitoi simplifying .themanufactureofffafour:wayzvalves, 20:.

Inone respect, thisfis.accornplished by'providing-f ad valve-cageand seal. arrangement which: avoids:A under-cut .bores in .the valvecasing. a. In another.' respect: this? is accomplished: lrriyrl increasing :the 1,

tolerance required-l inf manufacturing@ theavalve. 25y

and -*making-the valvefadjustables' Inia certain.; typeof: valve, ancloseT manufa'cturingf.tolerancer isurequired Ain orderistofgproperlyi locatezfthex op* erating stems VVof the =.fou.r: valves.: with? respect 1 to.an'.operating cam; This 1isravoidediaceording.;` 30

to the present invention, by employing-.afpushzf rodlwhichisfreeatfits'outerend 'fomsthe valve,

and' b3 amadiustab'le :connection-.between aaah; valve andrtliefcasing; whereloy-the closed-positicnw Fig; 3 Iis*anienlarged4 sectional view; with partsi 50* broken'awayfon line-r3l-33offfFig. Z'lookingn the:y direction-.of `the arrows;y

Fig-:tis a-sectio'na-l viewwith `partsfbrolreiravvay. onflinelli-Aof 3 looking intherdirection of?. the-arrows 5532 cage 6iiias:"indieatedlat*V 9i.

. 2 l Referringfgin detail-L toctheyf.draWings-,-:` ,theffoura Wam-valve i l 1comprises;gaacasingi having: eight; threaded v connections-rv. :i+1 0i inclusiva:` equal-lit;l spaced around the aXisz-l l of acam :shaft- I2'; The:

connectiomspis connected =to` af,suitableasour ceof high:pressure fluid supply;` for; example1v three.; thousand p1-s. i:,and Adiarrietrically;x opposite a the connection l which serves as a return yor outlet;vv Ther connectionzr at 'the/,upperfright ,andconnection vil eatztheflower; left areffconnected ato-:the opposite.::sides .of thefpiston';l I3 of a suiftablef fluid i motor I4. The remaining four threadedfopenings 4,: 6; 8 andf: Itlf'each'ihousef,aireciprocating valve@and:iallgfourffofl theiivalves are-alike;l one...I

thereof. Ifleeing shown infEigr; Theezvalves rior;VA the eopenings 4?.,6; candrl llfare indicatedaas All 60, 80, and lill) respectively. Each valvezhas-an operating steniforvrod:indicatedgatsllI; 61; 8|, and

I Bilrespectivelmfi and:the:inner:endsfoffthesegrods i project intozazcamtwell lhaving a circular-bore; andsin'whiehis11a rotatable .cam |62 Cam; Iltis-f ellipticaland :operates theA oppositeepushrods 6 I v andai! 0'] atthe .zsametirnaz and 'iwhenzrotatedgtto Y another position; it operates the `oppositepush rods 4| and 8l.

Referringtozlig; 3, .the valve-60 is mounted'in afbore; inztheV casingl 2;'.the bore` 6 2 'fleeing -free from `underecuts .1, The; abore;1:62 :at :its: outer end; is-ienlarged; andir inwardly thereof:v this bore isreducedr as zshown at 635 to receive. the, intermediateiportionft of the-oute11v valve cage 65'. The: casing bore atffits innermost end isf; fur. th'erfreduced as shown at 66 toxreceive-av resilientY ringfseal ofmeoprene orthe like,` around the-4 pushi rod-161:1 The-ring ssealv 611 rests onv a `shoulav derffat` the inner endl of the casing'bore andV- the seal 61 is held in .position around push rodvv 6.1bysthefreducedlinner end 6910i theouter cage 6.5', whichisli'dingly. fits Qintheb'ore 466. The outer= threadedopening. 6T Cage 65may. be screwed or out-to: properly position the inner end of push1rodT6lfwith respect tothe-cam lli; Cage 65. isfheld:v inf its lengthwise adjustedpostion by a lockfnut'll Therelativefpositions of thev push rodsiand 1 valves 1v are r adjusted .to avoid r lest." motion at: cam I6.'-

WThenawzcam: I6 .pushesrod 61| upwardly, valve head121is2pushed2 oirfrom its seat 113.'. The ..up.v per end of pushirodil extends intov a1 recess Ill innvalve Alieadi'lZ Valve-head.. 'l2'. has :a piston.15 act'ediJonfby-springf161;. Piston l5ha's a high pressure=ring seall'll andslidesin'fthe bore 1810iY an inner-` .cagef'lllf threaded inside2 of-fthe. outer.:

Eston.-I 'I5 .hasl an axial bleed passage 92, always in register with a cross slot 93 in the upper end of push rod 6|.

Valve head 12 is urged to its seat 13 by spring 16 and by the fluid pressure behind piston 15. Valve head 12 preferably has a flat face as shown, and seat 13 preferably has an apex, giving a tolerance in the concentricity of the valve head and its seat.

As shown in Fig. 4, the intermediate portion of the outer cage is smaller than the bore 62, and provided with a number of ports 94 to admit fluid from an inlet passage 95. The inner cage 19 nests in and is surrounded by the outer cage 65. The lower end of the inner cage 19 has three legs 96 spaced apart and here shown as diierent in number from the four ports 94 to always provide a fluid passage to the top of valve head 12 regardless of their relative angular positions.

The inner end 69 of the outer cage 65 serves as a slide bearing for push rod 6|. The inner end 69 is carried by two legs such as 91, spaced apart and communicating with the outlet connection 1. Legs such as 91 are also shown, perhaps clearer, at 82, 83 for valve 80 in Fig. 2.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the outer cage 65 has high pressure seals 98, 99 in grooves in its periphery on opposite sides of the inlet passage 95.

Seat 13 has a tubular body 3| which fits in the bore of the outer cage 65 and is supported on the shoulder 32. Body 3| has a high pressure ring seal 33.

The lower ends of the three cage legs 96 retain seat 13 in position. While the legs 96 as shown as having a clearance above seat 13, this clearance may be small and of the order of one tenth mil.

To prevent leakage along threads 9| between the outer cage 65 and the inner cage 19, the inner cage 19 may be provided with a head 34 which acts like a valve head in fitting on a tapered seat 35 on the outer end of the outer cage 65, the stem of head 34 being spaced from the interior of seat 35 as shown at 36 in Fig. 2, and having a high pressure ring seal 31.

Each push rod like 6| has a high pressure seal like 61. Hence Whatever leakage reaches the cam well |5 from the push rods appears as low pressure which exerts only a low force in binding or distorting the ring seals on the cam shaft I 2. Such seals are shown at 38 and 39 in Fig. 3 on opposite sides of all the push rods like 6| and at the opposite ends of the cam I6. The seals 38, 39 are low pressure seals. A low pressure in the cam well l5 is also assured by a bleed passage |92, see Fig. 2, which leads from cam Well 5 to the return connection 1.

The leakage from all the push rods like 6| bleeds through passage |02 to the return 1, whereby shaft 2 may be operated with a small force when operating with high pressure fluid.

From Fig. 2 it is apparent that the casing 2 has passages whereby the high pressure inlet 3 is connected to the inlet side of valves 4U and |60; the outlet side of valves 60 and 88 lead to the return 1; fluid motor connection 5 connects with the outlet side of valve 40 and with the inlet side of valve 60; and fluid motor connection 9 connects with the outlet side of valve |96 and with the inlet of valve 8U.

Connection 9 is an inlet and 5 and outlet when cam I6 is rotated counterclockwise 45 degrees from the position shown in Fig. 2. The flow is reversed when cam |6 is rotated clockwise 45 degrees from the position shown in Fig. 2.

As shown, the casing 2 may be one block, of uniform thickness. The push rods radiate from a common center on axis and they are in a plane at right angles to axis From the above description it will be apparent that close tolerances are avoided in the manufacturing, regarding the placement of the inner ends of the push rods with respect to the cam, that such placement can be obtained in the course of assembly, and that high fluid pressure does not reach the cam seals.

The push rod operated valve is an improvement over the valve described and claimed in copending application S. N. 639,756 led Jan. 8, 1946, now Patent No. 2,490,944, dated December 13, 1944 for Reciprocating Valve which claims some of the valve features here shown, while a method of making such valves is described and claimed in a division of application S. N. 639,756, namely S. N. 779,631 filed October 13, 1947, for Method of Making Reciprocating Valves, now abandoned.

It will be apparent that various modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A four way valve comprising a casing havinga radial array of four reciprocating valves with supply, return, and fluid motor connections controlled thereby, said valves each having an operating push rod each operable to open its valveand said four push rods radiating from a common center, said casing having a central cam well having a wall, a high pressure seal in said Wall around each of said push rods, a cam in said well in operative relation to said rods for operating said valves two at a time, a high pressure inlet passage communicating with two of said valves independently of said cam well, the high pressure seals for said last mentioned two valves being exposed to pressure in said high pressure inlet passage, a return passage communicating with the other two of said valves independently of said cam well, the high pressure seals for said other two valves being exposed to pressure in said return passage, a bleed passage in said wall leading from said cam well to said return for bleeding leakage owing through said high pressure seals into said cam well, and a low pressure seal on said cam at opposite ends of said cam well.

2. A four Way valve comprising a casing having a radial array of four reciprocating valves with supply, return, and fluid motor connections controlled thereby, each of said valves having an inner cage and an outer cage arranged in a. bore in said casing and each of said bores having an outer nrst bore of a rst size and inwardly thereof a second bore of a smaller size, and inwardly thereof a third bore of a still smaller size, and inwardly thereof a fourth bore of a still smaller size, a push rod slidable in each of said fourth bores and having a ring seal in each of said third bores and each of said outer cages fitting in one of said first and second bores and having an extension fitting in one of said third bores on its ring seal, each of said push rods being slidable in its said outer cage extension, each of said valves having a valve seat removably fitting in its outer cage and held therein by its said inner cage, each of said valves having a valve head having a piston slidable in its inner cage and a spring in each of said inner cages for urging its valve head to closed position, each of said push rods loosely engaging its associated valve head, means removably connecting said inner cages to said outer cages respectively and means for longitudinally adjusting each of said outer cages in its said rst bore, a cam well having a wall in which said fourth bores are arranged, and a cam in said well for operating said push rods.

3. A four way valve according to claim 2, said casing having a separate port communicating with the side of each of said first bores adjacent the inner end thereof, each of said outer cages being reduced in diameter opposite its said port and having a port therethrough with a cornmunicating port through the inner cage to one side of said valve and said piston, each of said outer cages having a reduced intermediate portion fitting in its said casing bore of second size and having a ring seal therein and said outer cage having a ring seal in said bore of rst size, and a ring seal on each of said seats for sealing the flow between the exterior of each seat and the interior of its said outer cage.

J. D. BUCHANAN.

REFERENCES CITED rIhe following references are or" record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 970,348 Osborne Sept. 13, 1910 1,877,763 Hazard Sept. 20, 1932 2,294,702 Van Der Weri Sept. 1, 1942 2,299,719 Frimel Oct. 20, 1942 2,323,947 Van Der Weri July 13, 1943 2,338,101 Ellinwood Jan. 4, 1944 2,387,007 Buchanan Oct. 16, 1945 2,397,299 Strid Mar. 26, 1946 2,496,849 Bertea Feb. 7, 1950 

